Commander Fistfight and the Higher Form of War
by AnitaAlways
Summary: Miko Nakadai. A fighter at heart. And in body. Secretly a superhero, she tries her hardest to keep her secret from the Autobots and balance both personas. This documents how well that turns out.
1. Prologue

The concept of the Yin-Yang is very odd, but it makes sense when you think about it. Duality. Two opposite forces that are interconnected. They work against each other and with each other at once, and anything else throws off the balance of the Earth.

The Yang represents light, energy, and nature. Avatars of Yang therefore are likely to be upbeat or energetic. They will do all the work manually, with as little help from outside as possible. They use power blasts, strength, and force in battle.

The Yin, on the other hand, embodies shadow, calm, and technology. Avatars of Yin are calm, collected, and clever. If given the option, they will choose to use technology, preferably created by them, to do their work. They rely on wit, lightning, and tech in battle.

And that's where they come in; Miko Nakadai and Vincent Kennedy, two people who live in Jasper. He's a Yin, she's a Yang. And of course, they find themselves in conflict with each other. It's gotten to the point where Vincent has started causing trouble under the name Shatter. Nothing major, just enough to anger Miko. Who has taken up the mantle of Commander Fistfight to keep him in check. They fight so often that they know each other's strategies by heart. Their war gives Jasper something to watch, look forward to. Gawk at.

To add to her stress, Miko recently fell in with the Autobots, a war faction of robots from another planet. She's befriended a couple, but their friendship doesn't stop her from keeping her identity secret. Which makes her desire to come along on missions seem all too impulsive. Sucks to be her.


	2. Helmet

The helmet was the best option for headgear, Miko had been told. It distorted the voice, covered the face, and cleared the vision. It was easier to fight when she had it on.

Case in point: her current battle with Shatter. He was faster than her, she admitted it. And his tech was really freaking good. He could do serious damage when he hit her. And he knew it.

"Come on, Commander," he taunted, "keep up! Are you losing your touch?"

Miko threw a car at him. "I sure hope not," she answered. The helmet detected an attack drone, and Miko flew out of the way of its gunfire. Right into a lightning bolt from Shatter.

The lightning bolt sent her into the ground, forming a crater. "Heh. Sucker," Shatter grinned. "You fall for that trick every time."

Miko hissed as she got back up. "My tech isn't as good as yours," she answered. "I never see it coming."

"That's what you get for not getting an upgrade," Shatter laughed. "I know you can afford one."

"I'm not as rich as you," reminded Miko. "Crime pays, apparently."

"It really does. Vandalism jobs especially." Shatter began a speech, and the second his guard was down, Miko sent a blast through his chest. "Alright, I admit that was a mistake."

"You always did talk too much," Miko commented.

"I understand why you don't. That voice makes you sound like the bad guy," taunted Shatter. "My job is done. See you next week, Commander."

Miko glared. "Wait-"

And as always, Shatter disrupted her helmet. No matter how many upgrades she made to it, he could always disrupt it. She had stopped at some point when this became clear. Dizzy and blinded, Miko fell to the ground and stumbled into an alley, where she got changed.

Then she got a call. "Miko, are you coming? You said you had a movie to show us," Bulkhead inquired.

"Yeah," came the answer. "I'm coming. Meet me at the gas station." Before heading down the street, Miko put her helmet into her bag and zipped it up.


	3. The Autobots

"Another fight?" Bulkhead asked dryly. "Who slagged you off this time?"

"Doesn't matter," Miko answered, getting into his alt-mode. "He ran off."

Bulkhead quieted down for a moment. "Miko…"

"You ask me this every time," came the reply, "and you never get an answer."

"Which worries me."

"I haven't died yet," Miko joked, "have I?"

"Please don't joke like that," Bulkhead scolded, "not after what happened last week."

Miko sighed. "Fair, fair. So you got Ratchet to agree to watch?"

"I had to change the movie, but yeah. I picked that superhero horror film," Bulkhead explained.

"Firebird? I hated that. Made superheroes look bad. If you want good hero work, do the documentary about Commander Fistfight," Miko groused.

"Didn't he retire? Who wants to see a movie about an old-"

"Considering someone else has taken that mantle, I would," came the reply.

"I sure hope the kid can do the job. She needs a lot of work," chuckled Bulkhead. "Hasn't she been fighting the same villain for three months?"

"The original fought Spinebreaker for literal years. Sometimes the best a hero can do is keep their villains from hurting others. Which the original Commander Fistfight did and the current Commander Fistfight is doing."

"I get that. That's pretty much what the Bots have to do. For now."

Once the two reached the base, Miko grinned and opened Bulkhead's door. "So, who all is watching?"

"Bee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Raf, you, and me."

"What are Arcee and Jack-"

"Slag if I know," came the answer.

Wheeljack waved once the two made it into the main room. "Hey, little Wrecker, how ya doing?"

Miko waved back. "Pretty good. I-"

"She got in a fight," Bulkhead reported.

Ratchet and Wheeljack immediately paid rapt attention, though for different reasons.

Wheeljack was concerned with: "Did she win?"

Ratchet was concerned with: "A fight? Why?"

Miko raised her hands. "Because he was a jerk, and yes, I won."

"This is the fourth time in the last two months," Ratchet complained. "How much more are you gonna-"

"Until he gets it," Miko shrugged. "If he does. He seems to have made it his life's mission to antagonize me."

Ratchet briefly fussed over her for a while, then sat down to watch the film.

Fowler waved her over, and Miko obeyed. "Hi," she said.

The military man started playing captcha sounds, then began a reprimand. "The same trick, Miko. He used the same trick."

"I know, sir," Miko answered, blushing. "I never see it coming."

"Because you always focus on what's in front of you. How many times have I told you to watch everything?"

"4, 206."

"That's a lot of times. I've trained you to do better, Miko."

"I know, sir."

"I want you to do 4 laps around the city. Blindfolded. Alright?"

Miko nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, go watch the film. Two-Ton has been griping all day."


	4. Revenge

"Bulkhead?!" Miko shrieked not a week later when she saw the bruiser lying unconscious. "What happened?"

"Tox-En exposure, among other things," Ratchet answered, then turned to Arcee and Bumblebee. "Help me get him into the medbay." Jack and Raf followed their companions, and Miko held her head. "If I hadn't gone to New York-"

"You couldn't have known," Fowler answered, "and that Hardshell sucker-punched him. A surprise attack. It couldn't be prevented."

"Who?" Miko asked.

"Insecticon. I had to deal with one, too. Hardshell is apparently their leader, and he's very dangerous. Shatter is tough for you, so Hardshell would have been too dangerous. It's not your fault," Fowler said. "I've gone through this, too. Stay calm. No good will come from worry. Understand?"

Hardshell, huh? "Yes, sir," Miko answered, committing the name to memory.

She spent a few hours in the training room that day, fighting a simulation army to blow off steam. "Decepticon freak," she hissed as she threw a car. "He thinks he can just kill whoever he wants. I oughta find that guy and give him what for. I should-"

RING! Miko turned off the simulation and grabbed her cell. She didn't recognize the number, but Fowler tended to call from other areas. "Hello?"

"Kid, ya there? I wanna talk," came Wheeljack's voice. "You doing okay?"

"Not really," Miko replied. "Is Bulkhead-"

"He'll live," Wheeljack answered. "He'll be thrilled when I take out the fragger who killed him. Speaking of, who did it?"

"I…" Miko hesitated. "Are you sure you wanna do this? What if he went back to hide in the Nemesis?"

"I'll go in and find him," Wheeljack answered. "Do you know who?"

Miko frowned. On one hand, it was a bad idea to go for revenge. She knew it. On the other hand, this was Wheeljack. He could handle it. "Hardshell. His name is Hardshell."

There was a pause. "Thanks, kid. I owe ya one."

Miko nodded. "Don't mention it. To anyone."

"Of course."

It took a few minutes after the call ended for Miko to realize that if anything happened, it was on her. Hardshell had taken Bulkhead down, what did Wheeljack expect to do? So, for her own sake (at least, she would tell herself that), she suited up and took flight.

She found his ship before she found him. There were bombs, swords, and other such weapons in there, but no Wheeljack. "Where the-" Once Miko looked out the window, her question died in her throat. Hardshell was beating Wheeljack. Hard. If nobody intervened, the Wrecker would die. Thankfully, Miko was in-uniform, so she flew down to deal with it.

Wheeljack, when he looked back on it, should have expected worse. He figured Hardshell would go down easy just because of the cowardly way he had harmed Bulkhead. But as it turned out, the Insecticon was strong. Really strong. Strong enough to beat Wheeljack himself in battle.

Which he had. And now he was standing over the Wrecker, ready to take his spark, when- wait, was that a human? What the frag was she…

Wow. A human girl had just flown down and kicked Hardshell to the ground. Then, before he could react, she blasted him in the chest. And cracked open his jaw. And ripped out his spark. Frag, this person was no joke. And she dressed like it, too. Dressed in a black, pink, and white bodysuit with a matching cape and helmet, she finished Hardshell off and flew down to Wheeljack. "You alright?" And yep, the voice was distorted.

"What the… who are you?"

"Commander Fistfight. Local superhero."

"I thought that was a dude."

"Wrong generation," Commander Fistfight answered, dry tone seeping through the distortion. "Come on, we gotta get out of here. I doubt he was alone."

Wheeljack staggered to his feet. "How did you know-"

"That doesn't matter," Commander Fistfight interrupted. "What matters is that I did. Now, you have to get back to the base. And try not to do something like that again. If I'd shown up just one minute later…" Then she went silent. "I'm needed elsewhere. Farewell."

Before Wheeljack could protest, the mystery girl flew away.

Commander Fistfight was supposed to be a hero. But Miko didn't feel like one. The day after she killed Hardshell, she sat on Bulkhead's chest sadly and curled up. She had originally been disgusted when Shatter killed that one guy- Barricade, had he said? But she had no more room to talk. She understood.

Wheeljack glanced at her. "He'll be fine," he said, coming over. "If it makes you feel better, that fragger Hardshell is dead."

"You killed him?" Miko had to ask. She couldn't risk exposing herself.

"No. Some human freak did. I owe her one."

Miko crawled onto Wheeljack's hand and curled up, crying, and he hugged her as much as possible. Briefly, her powers flared, but she kept them from expressing themselves as the two sat down to sulk.


	5. Talon

Bulkhead waking up was a happy day among the Bots. Miko and Wheeljack were at his sides in a moment, ready to help him get better. Fowler was keeping a closer eye on him, a somber look in his eyes. The day after, Fowler pulled Miko aside.

"I want to start out by saying that I don't blame you," he told her. "I did something similar when I was just a little older than you."

Miko frowned. "But?"

"I want to warn you, don't be seen too much more often by them. We can't risk your secret getting out." Fowler sighed. "That happened to me during the invasion of the Pretenders, and there were many attempts on my life. I had to kill them all so they couldn't tell anyone or hurt anyone."

Miko shuddered. "I bet that was rough."

"It was. They showed their true colors after that and focused on me."

"I'll be careful. Are there any missions you need done?"

"Yeah. The Bots found one of those relics. Apparently it can put cracks in the ground," he told her. "We need that relic's power source. Not the whole thing, just the power source."

"Why?" Miko asked.

"It comes from Earth. We think it's powered by Yin."

"Oh. Good reason." Miko shuddered. "If Shatter can use it, it needs to go."

Fowler nodded. "Yeah. Now. Get it."

"Gotcha," Miko replied. "Where is it?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Arcee was waiting in an alley. A boy clad in a red T-shirt, red jeans, a black helmet, and a black cape rode in on his own motorcycle. He stopped it and got off, sighing. "Alright, alien," came his disguised voice. "I'm here."

Arcee transformed. "Noticed. Now, I-"

"Skip the small talk," the boy said. "You want something from me. What is it?"

"Well, excuse me. Do you talk to all your customers this way?"

"Just the ones who break my weapons."

"It was a handgun!"

"Those are expensive."

"Well, I-"

"Keep in mind that your comments make me want to help you less."

Arcee sighed. "Look, we have a weapon we need to get our hands on. Looks like this." Tossing a model to the boy, she crossed her arms. "Can you do it?"

"I'm Talon. Of course I can do it."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard. Killed off crime lords, robbed Area 51, destroyed an Iraqistani military base. Real hot stuff."

"By myself, too. Don't you always have someone with you?" Talon shot back.

Arcee chuckled bitterly. "Fair, fair. Price?"

"$5,000."

"WHAT?!"

"Given its power source, I think two very powerful people will also be after it. If it gets split in half, I'll take half the price, so you should hope that's the case."

Arcee sighed. "I can't get you to lower it, can I?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Deal."

Talon stuck a hand up, shook Arcee's large hand, and got back on his motorcycle. "I'll call when I'm done."

* * *

That evening, Miko, clad in full Commander Fistfight gear, climbed to the top of a cliff. "Son of a gun, I hate climbing," she muttered. "Now where's that relic…"

"Right here," called a voice, and Shatter was leaning against a wall, tossing the relic and catching it. "How'd you hear about this, Fistfight?"

Miko scowled. "Sources. You?"

"Yin, remember? I could feel it."

Miko glared, drawing her axes. "You really don't need this weapon. You're not even that kind of villain."

"True, but I figured you'd want it," Shatter grinned, "and given that you and I kinda have to do this, I figure, why not?"

Miko rolled her eyes. "You never cease to amaze me with how crazy you are."

"Not my fault, just like it isn't your fault that you had to be a hero." Shatter sneered. "What is your fault is that you stole Commander Fistfight's name."

"The old one gave me that name," she snapped. "And trained me!"

Shatter laughed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're all so happy you had someone to take you by the hand and show you how to use your powers."

Miko scowled. "You're still angry about that?"

A crooked grin crossed the supervillain's face as he hit a button on his wrist. "Nah. I got over it."

20 scary looking drones uncloaked, tiny guns charged, but before they could shoot, a red blur snatched the device from Shatter. "WHAT THE-"

Miko fired at him, hitting him in the shoulder. The boy hit the ground and rolled into a kneeling combat position. Shatter glared. "Talon. What do you want?"

Talon held up the relic. "This. I assume you want it, too?"

"Yes," Miko replied.

"Too bad, so does my client." Talon fired a rope and winch, then started climbing the rocks, but the drones cut the rope and Shatter glared. "I want that device, Talon, and I'm not leaving without it."

Talon drew two swords at his sides. "Yes you are."

* * *

The next day, Miko stumbled into the base with aches all over and one third of the relic in her pocket. "Sir," she asked once nobody could hear, "who's Talon?"

Fowler turned white. "T-Talon? Was she there?"

"It was a _he_. About my age."

Fowler bowed his head. "The Talon I knew? Mercenary. Tried to kill me on a hit job. Got very close to succeeding, too. What I hear, me beating her, got her laughed out of the mercenary community."

"And now there's another Talon and another Commander Fistfight."

"No Talon will be able to be respected without killing the current Commander Fistfight. You should be _much_ more worried about him than about Shatter," Fowler said, "especially if he's as good as the one I went up against was."

"He knocked me and Shatter around. We each got one third of the relic. He's probably that good."

Fowler sighed. "Then watch yourself more carefully. Doubly so because the Bots hired Talon to get that relic," he said, pointing at another third of the relic on Ratchet's desk.


End file.
